I made a few gasbag models yesterday with wings3d. I like its UV mapping tools, it's easy to avoid too much distortion.

Blender is a more complete tool but TA3D requires simple models (you don't imagine having billion triangles in a model) to run at descent frame rates so I don't think Blender is a better choice than Wings3D for our 3D models needs (but it can be used to produce nice images like the ones used by the modern theme).